General Gong, sitting in the main seat, guessed from Chen Qingshengâs expression that the Yueqin was stolen by Yun Jianyue. He remembered that Cui Fengnian had delivered the ancient musical score with Chen Qingsheng, stood up, and shouted loudly, "Come, surround this place! Donât let a single fly out!"
"Thank you, General!" Chen Qingsheng quickly bowed deeply to General Gong and earnestly asked Guan Jiu, "Besides you, who else has come into contact with Yun Jianyue?"
"Report..." A messenger rushed in, panting, and knelt on one knee before General Gong, shouting loudly, "General Gong, the Zhou army is attacking the city!"
"What!" General Gong, half-drunk, was instantly sober. Wasnât the Zhou Kingdom gambling on the conflict with the Yan Kingdom? How could they really start fighting with Dongyi?
Not only General Gong, but the shouting of the messenger made all the commanders and high officials present stand up, their hearts filled with fear.
"The attack has already begun, itâs the black sails white python flag of the Bai family army!" The messenger mentioned the black sails white python flag and couldnât help but shiver with fear, "That Bai family army is coming fiercely, General Gong, you must quickly request reinforcements!"
The Bai family army is so renowned that even the commanders of Daliang fear them, let alone Dongyi, which is a vassal state of Daliang.
Upon hearing, General Gong scanned the generals present and loudly said, "Zhouâs attacking, all generals set out immediately to counter the enemy!"
Though the generals had been drinking, and some with a lower tolerance were unsteady upon standing, General Gongâs order still made them rise and chase after him as he hurried outside...
"General Gong! General Gong!" Chen Qingsheng quickly caught up with General Gong, "But Yun Jianyue hasnât been found yet, and the people here... Ah ah ah ah!"
Before Chen Qingsheng could finish speaking, he was pushed away by a general beside General Gong, causing him to fall from the corridor into the courtyard. If not for his servantâs quick reflexes to support him, Chen Qingsheng might have tumbled into the stream.
"What should I do! Iâve lost Yun Jianyue; how can I explain to my employer! My whole familyâs life canât make up for Yun Jianyue!" Chen Qingsheng nearly couldnât stand, falling to the ground, yelling with tears, "Oh, heaven, who is the murderer who stole Yun Jianyue!"
"Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper... Donât be too sad now! While itâs dark, we can send our people out to investigate! Such a large Yueqin, ordinary folks canât hide it!" The servant holding Chen Qingsheng quickly shouted, "Calm down, otherwise thereâs truly no way to explain to the employer!"
"Right, right, right!" Under the watchful eyes of the remaining nobles, Chen Qingsheng immediately ordered the guards brought to Dongyi to search the city, and after sending away the guests, the servants shut the door and searched inside the mansion.
The battle had started, and the wealthy families in Guadu City had no more interest in watching the excitement here; they hurried home to decide whether to hide or escape through the north gate.
What Chen Qingsheng and others are speaking is the elegant language of Zhou, and with their speech filled with sadness and urgency, even those wealthy families understanding this elegant language could only grasp the general idea.
Chen Qingsheng composed himself and quickly followed the departing high-ranking officials to apologize, using his not-so-fluent Dongyi language to say that after todayâs incident, he would return another day to apologize at their doors...
These people left quickly, and once the mansion gate was shut, Chen Qingsheng pretended to let people clamor for the servants to gather in the courtyard and search their bodies and the mansion.
However, the ones gathered in the courtyard were all Bai family guards in combat attire with swords, who had retired from the Bai family army, knowing the importance of assisting in the city during the siege.
Standing in the courtyard holding a wine bowl, Chen Qingsheng shouted loudly, "You are all our Bai family people; now the Seventh Young Master and Fourth Young Lady are leading the attack, and your task is to open the city gate, reducing our Bai armyâs casualties, all brothers are heroes, Chen Qingsheng admires you greatly! This time... although itâs a life-or-death situation, Chen Qingsheng still hopes all brothers will fight with all their might to stay alive, we... will go home together!"
After speaking, Chen Qingsheng raised the wine bowl and drank it in one gulp.
Standing in the courtyard, the Bai family guards raised their bowls, drank up the wine, and at the command of their leader, set out together.
Chen Qingsheng clenched his teeth; if only his martial arts were better, he would have wanted to go with the Bai family guards to contribute to the Bai army. But his involvement would reveal "Cui Fengnian", making life difficult for the Third Young Lady of Yan Kingdom known in Yan.
Once the Bai family guards left, Chen Qingsheng immediately ordered those pretending to be servants in the courtyard to search the city under the guise of catching the servant who stole Yun Jianyue, to help those sacrificing themselves to open the city gate for Bai army soldiers, and find ways to assist them.
Chen Qingsheng knew that every battle involves sacrifices, but if they exerted effort, they could bring back one more Bai army brother from the palace of the King of Hell, they would exert all their power.
When General Gong arrived at the base of the city tower, the Bai army had already started climbing the walls, shocking General Gong, who immediately ordered to muster all forces to stop Bai army from climbing city walls...
Previously, General Gong only heard tales of Bai armyâs achievements, knowing they were almost invincible in battle, but now facing them in a fight with Dongyi, General Gong truly realized their might.
Originally, Dongyi was a small subordinate country of Daliang; its cityâs specifications couldnât compare to Daliang, and even the city walls were half as tall. To the Bai army, fighting Dongyi was like using a butcher knife to kill a chicken.
Messengers on fast horses dispatched to Liuguan City with stationed troops requesting help had already left the city, heading straight for Liuguan...
Dongyi was known as a diminutive country; its land truly wasnât large, and the distance between cities wasnât as far as between Daliang and Zhou.
Cheng Yuanzhi, long ambushed along the only road, soon saw Guadu Cityâs defending soldiers on fast horses heading to Liuguan for help and immediately moved to Bai Qingyanâs side: "Young General Bai, the informers have gone, please go rest, leave it to me, old Cheng. No trouble will arise! Young General Bai first rest on the ship with Shen Liangyu and Huying army soldiers, once winning, Iâll immediately send someone to report, slaying chicken doesnât require a butcherâs knife."
Bai Qingyan thought for a moment, nodded: "Leave it to you, make sure they canât pass through to Guadu City!"
"Yes, Young General Bai, rest assured!" Cheng Yuanzhi responded, "Old Cheng wonât let anyone through!"
Bai Qingyan, accompanied by Shen Liangyu and two hundred men, left, and only then did Cheng Yuanzhi relax. He didnât expect Bai Qingyan to lead two hundred men not back to the ship but instead proceed partway towards Liuguan City, then dispatch someone to watch Cheng Yuanzhiâs side, saying once their side engaged, they would report the battle situation of Dongyi army and Bai family army.